Special Election - 6th Congressional District (Gray: donations, best, corporate)

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by MikeHonchoATL

That is the most naive thing I've ever read.

So, everyone gets into elite programs regardless of ability? Everyone gets into college, even if they aren't suited for it? These programs ARE already open to everyone. There is just a measuring bar to get into them.

C'mon son. Get real. The World needs ditch diggers too. The sooner we can screen out some of these folks and put them in trades that offer a livable wage, the better they would be. Not everyone needs college and $100,000 in debt from useless degrees.

As someone who doesn't have a degree, never had any student debt, and still makes a good salary and has a career- I totally agree, college is not for everyone, and should not be for everyone.

I'm talking about all levels of education funding, and general availability of an environment of quality education for all levels and grades. Not overcrowded, minimally-funded schools. Not parents who don't have the time to be involved, or teachers without the time or resources to be focused. Not the school-to-prison pipelines we see now in poor and minority communities. Etc.

America's lack of focus on our education system is really at the source of most of our social problems. We can do a lot better with it, while at the same time, recognizing that higher education doesn't need to be for everyone. There just needs to be true opportunity for every kid, instead of things largely being dependent on circumstances of birth. And the kids that don't want or need to be there, get them out. But most kids do.

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by primaltech

As someone who doesn't have a degree, never had any student debt, and still makes a good salary and has a career- I totally agree, college is not for everyone, and should not be for everyone.

I'm talking about all levels of education funding, and general availability of an environment of quality education for all levels and grades. Not overcrowded, minimally-funded schools. Not parents who don't have the time to be involved, or teachers without the time or resources to be focused. Not the school-to-prison pipelines we see now in poor and minority communities. Etc.

America's lack of focus on our education system is really at the source of most of our social problems. We can do a lot better with it, while at the same time, recognizing that higher education doesn't need to be for everyone. There just needs to be true opportunity for every kid, instead of things largely being dependent on circumstances of birth. And the kids that don't want or need to be there, get them out. But most kids do.

To add to this, more people WOULD skip college and try "ditch digging" if republicans allowed safety nets. But we have created a country where striking out means becoming the scorn of an entire political party, who will do everything they can to take away your home, food, and healthcare. With the stakes so high, is it any wonder people feel they need to go to college?

[JPD]

Do we even have ditch digging jobs anymore? Seems like that would be the perfect type of job to give to a machine.

[Cameron H]

We have heavy equipment operators, and they need the training and experience for which apprenticeships are really ideal. We should be improving the accessibility and quality of apprenticeships, and of course that requires funding.

[ronricks]

Originally Posted by Forhall

To add to this, more people WOULD skip college and try "ditch digging" if republicans allowed safety nets. But we have created a country where striking out means becoming the scorn of an entire political party, who will do everything they can to take away your home, food, and healthcare. With the stakes so high, is it any wonder people feel they need to go to college?

There are a lot of high paying technical related jobs out there that do not require going to college. I am all for helping people in need and believe in a social safety net but I can't help to look at the data we have over the last 50 years and think that we have created a perpetual cycle of people being on entitlement programs with no incentive to work. This is a revolving door that has transitioned from parents to the children who when they become age get on the same programs and have little incentive to work. There has to be a balance somewhere.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by ronricks

There are a lot of high paying technical related jobs out there that do not require going to college. I am all for helping people in need and believe in a social safety net but I can't help to look at the data we have over the last 50 years and think that we have created a perpetual cycle of people being on entitlement programs with no incentive to work. This is a revolving door that has transitioned from parents to the children who when they become age get on the same programs and have little incentive to work. There has to be a balance somewhere.

Yes. I am in no way pro-entitlement, but I could totally get behind a program that promotes human investment.

[Cameron H]

Nine percent of government benefits go to able-bodied people who can't or won't get a job. It's two percent when you exclude medical care, unemployment insurance (temporary, and for which you need a work history), Social Security survivor benefits for the families of dead workers, and Social Security benefits for retirees aged 62 to 64.

The vast, vast majority of benefits go to the elderly, the disabled, and the working poor. We've made it really difficult for able-bodied layabouts to be "dependent on government," it's a tiny problem considered as a percentage of social spending, and the gap between the perception (of some) and reality continues to amaze me. And even if it's super-important to crack down on that 2%, you don't accomplish that by slashing social spending across the board when we already have among the stingiest safety nets in the developed world.

I do think we ought to be concerned about the able-bodied but economically disengaged underclass, whether they live in the "inner city" or Appalachia or anywhere else. It's a small population, but it's almost certain to grow larger. As communities, we ought to strengthen that education > job > marriage > children (in that order) formula for escaping poverty. Government has a role to play in education and job opportunities that offer a living wage, but it's really our communities that have to tackle the last two pieces of the formula.

I also think we should keep some perspective, and we shouldn't punish the underclass by starving their children, kicking them out on the streets, and denying them health care. Yeah, "balance."

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by ronricks

There are a lot of high paying technical related jobs out there that do not require going to college. I am all for helping people in need and believe in a social safety net but I can't help to look at the data we have over the last 50 years and think that we have created a perpetual cycle of people being on entitlement programs with no incentive to work. This is a revolving door that has transitioned from parents to the children who when they become age get on the same programs and have little incentive to work. There has to be a balance somewhere.

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Yes. I am in no way pro-entitlement, but I could totally get behind a program that promotes human investment.

Mike Rowe on How to Combat Unemployment & the Skills Gap | Fox News Insider

Profoundly Disconnected

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by primaltech

As someone who doesn't have a degree, never had any student debt, and still makes a good salary and has a career- I totally agree, college is not for everyone, and should not be for everyone.

I'm talking about all levels of education funding, and general availability of an environment of quality education for all levels and grades. Not overcrowded, minimally-funded schools. Not parents who don't have the time to be involved, or teachers without the time or resources to be focused. Not the school-to-prison pipelines we see now in poor and minority communities. Etc.

America's lack of focus on our education system is really at the source of most of our social problems. We can do a lot better with it, while at the same time, recognizing that higher education doesn't need to be for everyone. There just needs to be true opportunity for every kid, instead of things largely being dependent on circumstances of birth. And the kids that don't want or need to be there, get them out. But most kids do.

Hear, hear! Well said, primal.

[MikeHonchoATL]

Jon Ossoff has scant financial support in Sixth Congressional District | Kyle Wingfield